Lopez v. Fashion Nova, Inc.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:20-cv-09238
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lopez v. Fashion Nova, Judge Schofield granted TP Apparel’s motion to dismiss Lopez’s copyright and unjust-enrichment claims for premature registration.
Robert G. Lopez’s claims against TP Apparel, LLC were dismissed with prejudice, and TP Apparel was terminated from the case. The opinion does not state what happened to claims against the other defendants.
What happened
In Lopez v. Fashion Nova, Inc., Robert G. Lopez, representing himself, sued Fashion Nova and others over alleged infringement of copyrights involving several marks and designs. TP Apparel, LLC was one of the defendants.
TP Apparel argued that the claims against it should be dismissed because Lopez had not received copyright registration before filing the lawsuit. The court explained that federal law requires a copyright claimant to apply for registration and receive the Copyright Office’s decision before filing an infringement action.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield found that the complaint did not allege registration and that Lopez had admitted he had not received a registration certificate. The court granted TP Apparel’s motion to dismiss, dismissed the claims against TP Apparel with prejudice, and terminated TP Apparel from the case.
The detailed version
- Lopez v. Fashion Nova, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-09238
- Lorna Schofield
- Feb. 11, 2021
Background
Robert G. Lopez, acting without a lawyer, asserted copyright-infringement and unjust-enrichment claims against Fashion Nova, Inc., and other defendants. He alleged that the defendants used his copyrighted marks and designs, including LES NYC®, LOWER EAST SIDETM, and the LES NYC LES LOVE T-shirt design, on clothing and other goods.
TP Apparel, LLC, one of the defendants, moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) to dismiss the claims against it. On such a motion, the court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true and asks whether the complaint states a legally plausible claim. The court also explained that filings by people representing themselves are read liberally, although those litigants must still follow procedural and substantive legal rules.
Copyright-registration requirement
The court relied on 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), which provides that a civil action for infringement of a United States work cannot be filed until the copyright claim has been registered. Under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of that provision, the claimant must apply for registration and receive the Copyright Office’s decision before filing suit. A lawsuit filed before that point must be dismissed, even if the plaintiff later amends the complaint after registration.
In paragraph 93 of the complaint, Lopez stated that he owned the United States copyright for “LES NYC LES LOVE T-Shirt Photo” under Case No. 1-966947121. But the complaint did not allege that the copyright had been registered. Lopez also admitted to TP Apparel that he had not yet received the copyright registration certificate for the work involved in the action against TP Apparel.
Ruling
Judge Lorna G. Schofield concluded that the registration defect could not be cured by amendment because Lopez had not obtained registration before filing the lawsuit. The court therefore dismissed the claims against TP Apparel with prejudice. It granted TP Apparel’s motion to dismiss and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate TP Apparel from the case and close the motion at Dkt. No. 39. The opinion does not state the disposition of claims against the other defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.